Vintage Train, Happy Birthday, Old Timer!

"Vintage Train, Happy Birthday, Old Timer!" by Catherine Sherman. A man dressed in 19th century-style clothing meets the arrival of Engine 482 of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Silverton, Colorado. The D&SNG travels several times a day during the season between Silverton and Durango, two historic towns in the San Juan mountains. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge heritage railroad that operates 45.2 miles (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and is also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. This historic train has been in continuous operation between Durango and Silverton since 1882, carrying passengers behind vintage steam locomotives and rolling stock indigenous to the line. The line was constructed to haul silver and gold ore from Southwest Colorado's San Juan Mountains, but passengers soon realized the view was even more valuable. Silverton is in San Juan County. With a mean elevation of 11,240 feet (3426 meters), San Juan County is the highest county in the United States. It's also the county with the smallest population in Colorado. Silverton is a former silver mining camp, most or all of which is now included in a federally designated National Historic Landmark District, the Silverton Historic District.